


Ice Cold

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, tw self-harm mention, tw suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 10:50:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13569039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Lisa was the one who found her.





	Ice Cold

Lisa Peterson shivered slightly as she rode along the dirt track that lined either side of the Silversong River up near Valedale. She wished that she could tell herself that it was from the chill in the air that Valedale was home to, but that would be a lie. She couldn’t even say that it was the early hour, because that, too, was a lie. Then sun was warm as it shone down upon her, even this early in the day. Besides, Starshine felt it, too.

“I really hope Linda was wrong about what she saw,” said Starshine as he walked along the path. Lisa nodded, though she doubted it. Linda was never wrong in her visions, especially not since she’d started to study them, learning to better read the symbols that she saw in dreams or in moonlit puddles of water. Taking her hands off of the reins for a moment, Lisa wiped her clammy palms on her jeans, licking her dry lips. Of course Linda had told her, she couldn’t tell Alex what she’d seen. Especially if it turned out to be true.

Lisa had awoken in the early hours of the morning from another nightmare that she couldn’t recall the details of. With her heart racing and her mouth dry and skin sweaty, she’d managed to break the sleep-induced paralysis and rise to get a glass of water. But, when she’d reached the kitchen in the manor, she’d found that it was occupied by another person. Linda had sat at the table, her unbound hair a mess, staring into a bowl of water that had the moon reflected in it. As Lisa had watched, Linda had closed her eyes, rubbing them with her fingers, and then stared into the water again. But whatever she’d seen had only mde her paler.

“No,” Linda had whispered, staring into the water, her elbows on the table and her hands in her hair. “No, no, no, no, it can’t be true, not this time.” A single tear had fallen from her chin, splashing into the water and disrupting the image of the moon with ripples.

“Linda?” Lisa had asked, her voice raspy from a dry mouth and dry throat. She’d swallowed a glass of water, grateful for the relief, but Linda hadn’t taken her eyes away from the bowl of water.

“You need to go to Valedale,” Linda had said, finally snapping her gaze up to look at Lisa. Her brown eyes had been full of fear and sadness. 

“I can’t go now, it’s the middle of the night,” Lisa had whispered.

“No, it’s Anne, she’s going to do something really bad,” Linda had said. “Please, Lisa, you have to believe me.” Her voice had been full of so much pain that Lisa had nodded and promised to go. But, upon reaching her bedroom, her loss of sleep had caught up with her and sent her tumbling into her dreams. She remembered the nightmare that had awoken her, though. The nightmare where the sun had gone out.

And now, as she rode along the path edging the Silversong River, hearing the whinnying of horses up ahead, Lisa felt adrenaline fuelling her. But fear threatened to freeze her. Something didn’t feel right.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this, Starshine,” said Lisa, her hands trembling.

“You’re not alone,” said Starshine, “Trust me.” He began to trot, and Lisa managed to hold on properly, though every part of her was screaming at her to run away from here.

At the end of the path, Lisa shakily climbed from the saddle at Starshine’s urging. Something had been calling her to this place all along, dragging her here whether she wanted to be here or not. So now, she shook as she slowly approached the water’s edge. There was something pale in the reeds, and Lisa knew, in her heart, what it was. There were only so many people with pink streaked through their skin and hair. Pink particles clouded the water around her, but there was no possible way that it could be mistaken for blood. At least, not normal blood.

It was all Lisa could do to bite her tongue to keep from retching as she waded out into the water and pulled the fallen form of her friend towards the shore. Tears slipped down Lisa’s cheeks as she flipped Anne over gently, her wet hair stuck to her face. At least her eyes were shut. Lisa gently touched Anne’s face, finding that it was ice cold.

“I thought someone like you would want to go out with more spectacle,” said Lisa, but her voice cracked on the last word. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, hunched over the form of her friend, the tears falling onto her face but not making any difference.

“It’s my fault, isn’t it?” said Lisa. “Because I left you there, and my escape made them move you and up their security, you wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for me. Why couldn’t you just scream at me, blame me, like I wanted, like I deserved?” Her voice broke off into more sobs, tremors wracking her entire body now. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Anne, it’s all my fault!” Behind her, Starshine stomped his hoof on the ground, trying to draw Lisa out of her misery. It didn’t work, and he snorted. He understood why his rider felt so bad, but she shouldn’t be beating herself up over this when she could be making things better.

“Lisa!” Starshine shouted, projecting his voice into her mind too. Lisa raised her blotchy face to look at him, her green eyes bloodshot and still swimming with tears. “Listen to me. You can fix this.” Were he able to, he would have grabbed her by the shoulders, but as it was, he had to look her in the eyes as best he could.

“How?” Lisa croaked. Starshine whinnied.

“Aideen’s harp, girl, you’re a Soul Rider! The Soul Rider of the Star Circle, which gives you the power of healing and of life.” He emphasised the last word, and Lisa’s eyes widened as it clicked. Starshine snorted. Finally.

“Oh,” said Lisa. She sniffed, wiped her eyes and nose on her hoodie sleeves, and lowered her shaking hands to Anne’s still chest.

Starshine lowered himself down to the ground, leaning his body against Lisa’s back so that she could gain strength from him. Lisa closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, and poured all of her energy into Anne. It was not like healing the Ancient Tree, for that had been boosted by the Light of Aideen. This was purely from Lisa, from the shard of Aideen’s Light that rested in her heart and granted her such unique abilities. But something else in her called out to Anne, too. Something pink, and hungry. Lisa began to feel faint.

“It’s not working,” Lisa whispered, her arms shaking from holding her body up. “The Pandorian sickness is fighting me.”

“That sickness can only live in a living host,” said Starshine. “Use my energy, my Light, to fight it.” Immediately, he felt the energy begin to be drained from him, but Lisa began to glow. Not pink, as she often did when using her magic these days, but white now. Like the Light of Aideen itself. Even her eyes glowed bright white. And all of that power flooded straight into Anne, kickstarting her heart and filling her lungs with air. Anne sat up, coughing and retching, and Starshine tried to support Lisa’s body with his own as she fell back, panting and shaking.

“No!” Anne screamed, struggling to her feet and making for the water. “Why didn’t that work?”

“Anne, no!” Lisa cried, lunging for her. She landed on top of Anne, sending her blonde friend crashing to the ground. Anne screamed again, though it sounded more strained. But she stayed still, letting Lisa pin her to the ground. “Please don’t kill youself again.”

“Oh, so now you care,” said Anne. “You sure cared a lot when you left me there.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry,” said Lisa, tears threatening to choke her. “Was it my fault?”

“No, you selfish cow, it wasn’t,” said Anne. “You have no idea what I’m going through, none of you do! I was abandoned, trapped there, I had to escape the only way I knew how. But I can’t escape this.” 

“Evergray is working on a cure for the sickness,” said Lisa.

“That’s not what I meant, Lisa,” said Anne. “Get off me. I’m not going to throw myself into the river, don’t worry, that’s passed. It helps to know that you clearly care so much, unless that’s just the guilt talking. I know you don’t like me.”

“You need help,” said Lisa, hesitantly moving off of Anne so that she could sit up. Anne snorted.

“Throwing me into a padded cell isn’t going to help,” said Anne. “What, are you going to monitor me all the time now? Cameras everywhere, aides to go to the bathroom?”

“Seeing a therapist can only help you,” said Lisa. “Trust me.”

“And why should I trust you?” asked Anne, narrowing her pink eyes at Lisa. 

“Because I’m seeing one too,” said Lisa. “When I got back, the guilt over leaving you drove me to the edge, too.” She rolled her sleeves up, revealing the scars on her wrists. “I did this because I left you there. You were supposed to be my friend, and I just left you there to rot. And I’m so sorry I did that.”

“How edgelord of you,” said Anne, averting her gaze from the scars. She pursed her lips. “Is it really as easy as just talking to someone?”

“It depends on your condition, and who you see,” said Lisa. “They might recommend daily therapy, medication, new hobbies or things to try. I can give you the number of mine if you want?”

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” said Anne. She was silent for a moment. “Do the others know?”

“Linda saw it in a vision,” said Lisa. Anne sighed.

“Of course she did,” said Anne. Her lower lip trembled. “And Alex?”

“We decided not to tell her,” said Lisa. “But I think you should.”

“It’d kill her,” said Anne, her voice quiet.

“Should’ve thought of that before you did it,” said Lisa. Anne gave her a hard look, her eyes stony.

“You’re a great friend, do you know that?” said Anne, her voice laced with sarcasm. Lisa smirked, calmer now that Anne was alive and back to being her usual bitchy self.

“I hope you can get the help you need,” said Lisa.

“The real help would be getting Concorde back,” said Anne, her voice on the verge of breaking. “But Katja said that he’s dead. But I’d know, wouldn’t I? Unless that’s why I…” She didn’t need to finish the sentence.

“We’ll find him,” said Lisa, looking her in the eyes. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” said Anne. She hitched a ride on the back of Starshine, soaking his white coat with pink-tinged water. She was silent for the whole ride there, probably thinking about what to say. But, when she dismounted and saw Alex in the stableyard getting Tin Can ready for a ride, she straightened her spine and walked over to her girlfriend. Alex embraced her without asking any questions.

“You’re wet,” said Alex into Anne’s shoulder.

“A rather astute observation, my love,” said Anne, stroking Alex’s hair. Being around Alex was one of the only times that she felt happy these days.

“Why?” Alex whispered. Anne stiffened, closing her eyes and breathing in Alex’s scent.

“I just wanted the pain to stop,” said Anne.

“I thought you weren’t selfish,” said Alex. Anne’s eyes stung with tears as her lower lip trembled.

“I’m trying not to be,” said Anne, her voice shaking. “And I’m going to see someone about it. Lisa knows someone who might know someone who’ll be able to help me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad,” said Alex, pulling away to look at Anne. “I’m just… confused. Why throw it all away just because of the sickness?”

“Not that pain,” said Anne. “And it’s hard to get used to being back. I keep thinking that any moment, I’m going to wake up and it’ll all be a dream and I’ll be back in that crystal.”

“It’s real,” said Alex, kissing her. “I’m real. All of this is real, Anne, and what you did? That’s real, too.” Anne let out a sob and wrapped her arms tighter around her girlfriend, trembling slightly from the intense emotions.

“I’m so sorry,” Anne whispered. “I should’ve thought about you, but I didn’t. I think that might be the sickness.”

“We’ll figure it out,” said Alex. “We always do.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Anne, blinking away tears.


End file.
